Soluble FAS in the prediction of benefit from cetuximab and irinotecan for patients with advanced colorectal cancer

The FAS/FASL system, comprising membrane-bound (mFAS and mFASL) and soluble forms (sFAS and sFASL), has been related to apoptosis driven by chemotherapy administration. In vitro experiments show chemotherapy upregulating membrane-bound forms, leading to an increase of receptor availability (at 24–72 h) and favoring apoptosis. The regulatory effect of chemotherapy on sFAS in patients has never been explored prospectively in advanced colorectal cancer (ACRC). We performed a pharmacodynamic study to address sFAS/sFASL variation. A prospective phase II translational multicenter study was designed to evaluate progression-free rate (PFR) in patients with ACRC treated with irinotecan and cetuximab in third-line therapy. The effect of sFAS was studied in vitro in colorectal cancer cell lines. Our results showed that statistically significant changes were observed in sFAS at 24–72 h compared to baseline levels in the pharmacodynamic study. Of the 93 patients enrolled in the prospective study in third-line therapy with cetuximab–irinotecan, 85 were evaluated for sFAS/sFASL changes at 48 h. There was no difference in PFR at 4 months between patients with sFAS and sFASL changes. In vitro analysis showed that although LoVo cell lines were sensitive to oxaliplatin and fluorouracil due to modulation of sFAS and FAS, HT29 lines were not. In summary, chemotherapy regulates FAS soluble fractions in vitro and in vivo, but does not predict PFR in ACRC patients undergoing third-line therapy with the combination of cetuximab and irinotecan.